Kraken Base
Kraken BaseHalf-Life 2: Raising the Bar''Playable Half-Life 2 Beta files, or simply '''Kraken',Playable Half-Life 2 Beta files is a location and chapter cut from Half-Life 2. It was to be set between the Borealis and Weather Control chapters, being the first location of the third day.Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar Overview Background Kraken Base was originally a rebel scientific base located beneath the sea,Helena Mossman says in the playable Half-Life 2 Beta sound files "Welcome to Kraken Base, Dr. Freeman, our home beneath the sea." Sound files also have Odell talking about an "ice station in that place underneath us", whatever this sentence was to be said by Odell on the Borealis or in the submarine. The sea might be partially frozen. in the Arctic regions north-west of City 17, and headed by Helena Mossman.She refers to herself as "Kraken's director" in the playable Half-Life 2 Beta sound files. Several people (rebels or other scientists) were probably to be there with her, including Vortigaunts.WC mappack The teleportation sequence As heard in the dialogues files found in the playable ''Half-Life 2'' Beta sound files, the teleportation sequence at the start of Half-Life was originally to be much different and much longer.Playable Half-Life 2 Beta files Kleiner and Barney, located at Kleiner's Lab with Gordon, and Helena Mossman, located at Kraken Base, were to discuss the best place to send Gordon, in a dialogue much longer than in the retail version (where several sentences survived), and not including Alyx. After the team agree that Eli's facilities are too primitive to make use of Gordon, being, according to Mossman, more suited to mechanics than research scientists, and that its teleport is in pieces, therefore not working, and that the only way to reach the place would be to go on foot through the dangerous Canals, Mossman suggests to send Gordon to Kraken Base instead, and by teleportation. Kleiner seems hesitant about it, while Barney expresses even more doubts, evoking the issues about the cat mentioned in the retail version, saying that he had to turn the animal right side out again to make sure it was a cat, thus providing the information missing from the retail version. While Kleiner pretends to be sure about the reliability of his equipment, Mossman is very determined, since she says to have run seven sequences without a single failure. The very long process continues, and Gordon must do his part to set things up. The teleportation begins and succeeds, and Mossman is able to briefly introduce herself to Gordon when he is still in the teleport, while the process is not fully completed. Back at Kleiner's Lab, Lamarr jumps into the teleport like in the retail version, disrupting the end of the teleportation process, bringing back Gordon to Kleiner's Lab and destroying both teleports. Then Gordon finds himself forced to journey to Eli's lab on foot. Barney leads him to a back door, leading to the Canals, where the next chapter begins.Playable Half-Life 2 Beta files Actually visit of the base Gordon was finally to reach Kraken Base much later in the game.The WC mappack maps for Kraken Base are very empty and quite incomplete. No teleport can be found. He was to hear a distress call from there on the Borealis and then reach it in a submarine with Odell. There they would encounter Mossman, at last.Playable Half-Life 2 Beta filesWC mappackHalf-Life 2: Raising the Bar''While no submarine is present in any of the Borealis maps, ''Raising the Bar indicates Kraken Base to be the next location, while the Kraken WC mappack maps feature a small submarine brush located in the only possible entrance (other than teleportation) to the base. It is unknown what happens there and what happens to Odell and Mossman. It is likely that some battle takes place, according to the distress call heard on the Borealis, stating that Kraken Base is "in serious trouble". Sound files featuring what seems to be distant gunshots can also be foundPlayable Half-Life 2 Beta files, while map scripts suggest it was infested by Zombies and therefore Headcrabs.WC mappack The atmosphere of the completed maps could have been similar to that of the Borealis chapter, but perhaps gloomier, given the claustrophobic and heavily isolated nature of a submarine station, especially under siege, in the vein of movies such as Alien, Abyss or Sphere. Another battle was to take place in the next chapter, the Combine Weather Control, that the player was to reach on foot, while it is unknown how the escape from Kraken Base was to be done. Fate The most recent Kraken Base maps has been last edited in August 2001, meaning it was cut quite early in the development process - and these maps were only prototypes, hence their prefix "proto". While the most complete map is quite big, it is also rather empty, and nor Odell, Mossman, the teleport or any enemy can be found.WC mappack Kraken Base is part of the storyline set between Nova Prospekt and the City 17 street wars that was completely cut, the game timespan having been reduced to three days instead of the original four. It might however having been brought back into the Half-Life canon: in Episode One, a message shows Mossman talking about a "site" from a concrete corridor attacked by Overwatch Elite soldiers, then this message must be brought to White Forest in Episode Two. It is possible that this place where Mossman is talking from is some sort of recycled Kraken Base, the "site" likely being the Borealis. Gallery File:Proto deep002b fixed0017.jpg|Typical corridor inside Kraken Base. File:Proto deep002b fixed0013.jpg|Closeup of the submarine, with Odell. File:Proto deep002b fixed0032.jpg|Dark shaft. File:Proto deep002b fixed069.jpg File:Proto deep002b fixed0047.jpg File:Proto deep002b fixed071.jpg File:Proto deep002b fixed0022.jpg File:Proto deep002b fixed0055.jpg List of appearances *''Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar'' Notes and references See also *Half-Life 2 original storyline#Kraken Base External links *Map based on the Kraken Base concept for Garry's Mod (made from scratch; requires Episode Two) Category:Cut Locations Category:Arctic locations